Digital Commons Network^™

Do Psychopathic Birds Of A Feather Flock Together? Psychopathic Personality Traits And Romantic Preferences, Ashley L Watts, Jessica C Rohr, Katherine L Mccauley, Sarah Francis Smith, Kristin Landfield Howe, Scott O Lilienfeld

Staff and Researcher Publications

Objective: The goal of the present studies was to investigate whether people are especially attracted to psychopathic traits, and whether there are individual differences in such attraction.

Method: Female undergraduates (N = 270; Mage = 19; 57% White, 20% Asian, 8% Black) and female and male community members (N = 426; Mage = 37; 56% female; 81% Caucasian, 10% African American, 4% Asian) reported on their own personality and constructed their ideal mate for a dating, short-term, and long-term relationship from a list of 70 characteristics drawn from well-validated criteria for psychopathic personality and diagnostic criteria for DSM-5 personality disorders …

South West Food Community: A Place-Based Pilot Study To Understand The Food Security System, Stephanie Louise Godrich, Jennifer Payet, Deborah Brealey, Melinda Edmunds, Melissa Stoneham, Amanda Devine

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

The objectives of this study were to: (i) Identify initiatives supporting healthy food availability, access and utilisation in the South West region of Western Australia (WA); and (ii) understand how they were functioning as a system to enhance community-level food security (FS). This study used a novel approach; a Systemic Innovation Lab, to interview initiative leaders/stakeholders about their FS initiative. Initiative characteristics measured included those which were associated with creating the effective conditions for FS systems change. Information was uploaded to an innovative online tool, creating a 'transition card' (matrix) of initiatives and partnering organisations. Fifty-one participants reported on 52 …

Factors Associated With Condom Use With Non-Commercial Partners Among Sexually-Active Transgender Women In Cambodia: Findings From A National Survey Using Respondent-Driven Sampling., Siyan Yi, Amelia Plant, Sovannary Tuot, Phalkun Mun, Srean Chhim, Navy Chann, Pheak Chhoun, Carinne M. Brody

BACKGROUND: Globally, the prevalence of HIV among transgender women is much higher than that of the general adult population. This can be explained by the persistently low rate of consistent condom use among this population. This study was therefore conducted to explore factors associated with consistent condom use among sexually-active transgender women in Cambodia, specifically with their non-commercial partners.

METHODS: Data used for this study were collected as part of the National Integrated Biological and Behavioral Survey 2016. Participants were recruited from the capital city of Phnom Penh and 12 other provinces with high burden of HIV using the Respondent-Driven …

Buparlisib In Patients With Recurrent Glioblastoma Harboring Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase Pathway Activation: An Open-Label, Multicenter, Multi-Arm, Phase Ii Trial., Patrick Y Wen, Mehdi Touat, Brian M Alexander, Ingo K Mellinghoff, Shakti Ramkissoon, Christine S Mccluskey, Kristine Pelton, Sam Haidar, Sankha S Basu, Sarah C Gaffey, Loreal E Brown, Juan Emmanuel Martinez-Ledesma, Shaofang Wu, Jungwoo Kim, Wei Wei, Mi-Ae Park, Jason T Huse, John G Kuhn, Mikael L Rinne, Howard Colman, Nathalie Y R Agar, Antonio M Omuro, Lisa M Deangelis, Mark R Gilbert, John F De Groot, Timothy F Cloughesy, Andrew S Chi, Thomas M Roberts, Jean J Zhao, Eudocia Q Lee, Lakshmi Nayak, James R Heath, Laura L Horky, Tracy T Batchelor, Rameen Beroukhim, Susan M Chang, Azra H Ligon, Ian F Dunn, Dimpy Koul, Geoffrey S Young, Michael D Prados, David A Reardon, W K Alfred Yung, Keith L Ligon

Articles, Abstracts, and Reports

PURPOSE: Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) signaling is highly active in glioblastomas. We assessed pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, and efficacy of the pan-PI3K inhibitor buparlisib in patients with recurrent glioblastoma with PI3K pathway activation.

METHODS: This study was a multicenter, open-label, multi-arm, phase II trial in patients with PI3K pathway-activated glioblastoma at first or second recurrence. In cohort 1, patients scheduled for re-operation after progression received buparlisib for 7 to 13 days before surgery to evaluate brain penetration and modulation of the PI3K pathway in resected tumor tissue. In cohort 2, patients not eligible for re-operation received buparlisib until progression or unacceptable toxicity. Once …

A Novel Pathogenic Variant In Osbpl2 Linked To Hereditary Late-Onset Deafness In A Mongolian Family, Ningjin Wu, Husile Husile, Liqing Yang, Yaning Cao, Xing Li, Wenyan Huo, Haihua Bai, Yangjian Liu, Qizhu Wu

Open Access Publications

BACKGROUND: To investigate the clinical features and the underlying causal gene of a family with hereditary late-onset deafness in Inner Mongolia of China, and to provide evidence for the early genetic screening and diagnosis of this disease.

METHODS: Family data were collected to draw a pedigree. Audiological testing and physical examination of the family members were conducted following questionnaire. Genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral blood of 5 family members (3 patients and 2 normal control) and subjected to whole genome sequencing for identifying deafness casual genes. The pathogenic variant in the deafness gene was further confirmed by Sanger sequencing. …

Dissecting Features Of Epigenetic Variants Underlying Cardiometabolic Risk Using Full-Resolution Epigenome Profiling In Regulatory Elements., Fiona Allum, Åsa K. Hedman, Xiaojian Shao, Warren A. Cheung, Jinchu Vijay, Frédéric Guénard, Tony Kwan, Marie-Michelle Simon, Bing Ge, Cristiano Moura, Elodie Boulier, Lars Rönnblom, Sasha Bernatsky, Mark Lathrop, Mark I. Mccarthy, Panos Deloukas, André Tchernof, T Pastinen, Marie-Claude Vohl, Elin Grundberg

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

Sparse profiling of CpG methylation in blood by microarrays has identified epigenetic links to common diseases. Here we apply methylC-capture sequencing (MCC-Seq) in a clinical population of ~200 adipose tissue and matched blood samples (Ntotal~400), providing high-resolution methylation profiling (>1.3 M CpGs) at regulatory elements. We link methylation to cardiometabolic risk through associations to circulating plasma lipid levels and identify lipid-associated CpGs with unique localization patterns in regulatory elements. We show distinct features of tissue-specific versus tissue-independent lipid-linked regulatory regions by contrasting with parallel assessments in ~800 independent adipose tissue and blood samples from the general population. We follow-up …

Heart Failure Symptom Biology In Response To Ventricular Assist Device Implantation., Christopher S Lee, James O Mudd, Karen S Lyons, Quin E Denfeld, Corrine Y Jurgens, Bradley E Aouizerat, Jill M Gelow, Christopher V Chien, Emily Aarons, Kathleen L Grady

Articles, Abstracts, and Reports

BACKGROUND: We have a limited understanding of the biological underpinnings of symptoms in heart failure (HF), particularly in response to left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to quantify the degree to which symptoms and biomarkers change in parallel from before implantation through the first 6 months after LVAD implantation in advanced HF.

METHODS: This was a prospective cohort study of 101 patients receiving an LVAD for the management of advanced HF. Data on symptoms (dyspnea, early and subtle symptoms [HF Somatic Perception Scale], pain severity [Brief Pain Inventory], wake disturbance [Epworth Sleepiness Scale], …

Army And Navy Echo Pain Telementoring Improves Clinician Opioid Prescribing For Military Patients: An Observational Cohort Study., Joanna G. Katzman, Clifford R. Qualls, William A. Satterfield, Martin Kistin, Keith Hofmann, Nina Greenberg, Robin Swift, George D. Comerci, Rebecca Fowler, Sanjeev Arora

Project ECHO Bibliography

BACKGROUND: Opioid overdose deaths occur in civilian and military populations and are the leading cause of accidental death in the USA.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether ECHO Pain telementoring regarding best practices in pain management and safe opioid prescribing yielded significant declines in opioid prescribing.

DESIGN: A 4-year observational cohort study at military medical treatment facilities worldwide.

PARTICIPANTS: Patients included 54.6% females and 46.4% males whose primary care clinicians (PCCs) opted to participate in ECHO Pain; the comparison group included 39.9% females and 60.1% males whose PCCs opted not to participate in ECHO Pain.

INTERVENTION: PCCs attended 2-h weekly Chronic Pain …

Effect Of Conditioning Regimen Dose Reduction In Obese Patients Undergoing Autologous Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation., Claudio G. Brunstein, Marcelo C. Pasquini, Soyoung Kim, Mingwei Fei, Kehinde Adekola, Ibrahim A. Ahmed, Mahmoud Aljurf, Vaibhav Agrawal, Jeffrey J. Auletta, Minoo Battiwalla, Nelli Bejanyan, Joseph Bubalo, Jan Cerny, Lynette Chee, Stefan O. Ciurea, Cesar Freytes, Shahinaz M. Gadalla, Robert Peter Gale, Siddhartha Ganguly, Shahrukh K. Hashmi, Peiman Hematti, Gerhard Hildebrandt, Leona A. Holmberg, Oscar B. Lahoud, Heather Landau, Hillard M. Lazarus, Marcos De Lima, Vikram Mathews, Richard Maziarz, Taiga Nishihori, Maxim Norkin, Richard Olsson, Ran Reshef, Seth Rotz, Bipin Savani, Harry C. Schouten, Sachiko Seo, Baldeep M. Wirk, Jean Yared, Shin Mineishi, John Rogosheske, Miguel-Angel Perales

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

Data are limited on whether to adjust high-dose chemotherapy before autologous hematopoietic cell transplant (autoHCT) in obese patients. This study explores the effects of dose adjustment on the outcomes of obese patients, defined as body mass index (BMI) ≥ 30 kg/m2. Dose adjustment was defined as a reduction in standard dosing ≥20%, based on ideal, reported dosing and actual weights. We included 2 groups of US patients who had received autoHCT between 2008 and 2014. Specifically, we included patients with multiple myeloma (MM, n = 1696) treated with high-dose melphalan and patients with Hodgkin or non-Hodgkin lymphomas (n = 781) …

Saturated Fatty Acid Activates T Cell Inflammation Through A Nicotinamide Nucleotide Transhydrogenase (Nnt)-Dependent Mechanism, Grace Mccambridge, Madhur Agrawal, Alanna Keady, Philip A. Kern, Hatice Hasturk, Barbara S. Nikolajczyk, Leena P. Bharath

Pharmacology and Nutritional Sciences Faculty Publications

Circulating fatty acids (FAs) increase with obesity and can drive mitochondrial damage and inflammation. Nicotinamide nucleotide transhydrogenase (NNT) is a mitochondrial protein that positively regulates nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH), a key mediator of energy transduction and redox homeostasis. The role that NNT-regulated bioenergetics play in the inflammatory response of immune cells in obesity is untested. Our objective was to determine how free fatty acids (FFAs) regulate inflammation through impacts on mitochondria and redox homeostasis of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). PBMCs from lean subjects were activated with a T cell-specific stimulus in the presence or absence of generally pro-inflammatory …

Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Of Motor Cortex Enhances Running Performance., Seung-Bo Park, Dong Jun Sung, Bokyung Kim, Sojung Kim, Joung-Kyue Han

College of Science & Mathematics Departmental Research

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a technique used to modulate neuronal excitability through non-invasive brain stimulation that can enhance exercise performance. We hypothesize that tDCS would improve submaximal running time to exhaustion (TTE) and delay the increase in the rating of perceived exertion (RPE) over time. We also hypothesize that tDCS would not lead to difference in cardiorespiratory responses. We employed a randomized, single-blinded, and counterbalanced design in which 10 trained men participated. After receiving either 20 min of 1.98 mA anodal tDCS applied over the primary motor cortex (M1) or sham-operated control on separate days, participants completed a …

Virus-Specific Memory T Cells Populate Tumors And Can Be Repurposed For Tumor Immunotherapy, Pamela C. Rosato, Sathi Wijeyesinghe, J Michael Stolley, Christine E. Nelson, Rachel Davis, Luke S. Manlove, Christopher A. Pennell, Bruce R. Blazar, Clark C. Chen, Melissa A. Geller, Vaiva Vezys, David Masopust

Faculty Publications

The immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment limits the success of current immunotherapies. The host retains memory T cells specific for previous infections throughout the entire body that are capable of executing potent and immediate immunostimulatory functions. Here we show that virus-specific memory T cells extend their surveillance to mouse and human tumors. Reactivating these antiviral T cells can arrest growth of checkpoint blockade-resistant and poorly immunogenic tumors in mice after injecting adjuvant-free non-replicating viral peptides into tumors. Peptide mimics a viral reinfection event to memory CD8+ T cells, triggering antigen presentation and cytotoxic pathways within the tumor, activating dendritic cells and natural …

Assessing The Effect Of Patient To Provider Language Discordance On Depression Screening Utilizing The Patient Health Questionnaire: An Epidemiology Study., Luis A. Murillo, Georgi Alex Grekoff, John C. Sheffield

Reading Hospital Family Medicine Residency

Background: As depression screening becomes a standard in primary care, the question remains of how effective and equitable screening can be implemented to avoid cultural and language-related disparities.

Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, rates of depression screening were compared for 3626 adult patients at a family medicine residency-based health centre in Pennsylvania, USA. The PHQ-2/PHQ-9 modality was verbally administered by nursing staff at the time of patient intake as part of a universal screening initiative. Chi-square analysis was used to determine the univariate associations of performed depression screening with variables of language, ethnicity, gender and number of office visits. …

Napoli-1 Phase 3 Study Of Liposomal Irinotecan In Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer: Final Overall Survival Analysis And Characteristics Of Long-Term Survivors, Andrea Wang-Gillam, Richard A Hubner, Jens T Siveke, Daniel D Von Hoff, Bruce Belanger, Floris A De Jong, Beloo Mirakhur, Li-Tzong Chen

Open Access Publications

BACKGROUND: Liposomal irinotecan (nal-IRI) plus 5-fluorouracil and leucovorin (5-FU/LV) is approved for patients with metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (mPDAC) previously treated with gemcitabine-based therapy. This approval was based on significantly improved median overall survival compared with 5-FU/LV alone (6.1 vs 4.2 months; hazard ratio [HR], 0.67) in the global phase 3 NAPOLI-1 trial. Here, we report the final survival analysis and baseline characteristics associated with long-term survivors (survival of ≥1 year) in the NAPOLI-1 trial.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients with mPDAC were randomised to receive nal-IRI + 5-FU/LV (n = 117), nal-IRI (n = 151), or 5-FU/LV (n = 149) …

White Matter Damage, Neuroinflammation, And Neuronal Integrity In Hand, Aljoharah Alakkas, David B Clifford, Et Al.

2010-2019 OA Pubs

HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HANDs) persist even with virologic suppression on combination antiretroviral therapy (cART), and the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms are not well understood. We performed structural magnetic resonance imaging and MR spectroscopy (MRS) in HIV+ individuals without major neurocognitive comorbidities. Study participants were classified as neurocognitively unimpaired (NU), asymptomatic (ANI), mild neurocognitive disorder (MND), or HIV-associated dementia (HAD). Using structural MRI, we measured volumes of cortical and subcortical gray matter and total and abnormal white matter (aWM). Using single-voxel MRS, we estimated metabolites in frontal gray matter (FGM) and frontal white matter (FWM) and basal ganglia (BG) regions. Adjusted odds …

Characteristics Of Late Fatal Infections After Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation., Maxim Norkin, Bronwen E. Shaw, Ruta Brazauskas, Heather R. Tecca, Helen L. Leather, Juan Gea-Banacloche, Rammurti T. Kamble, Zachariah Defilipp, David A. Jacobsohn, Olle Ringden, Yoshihiro Inamoto, Kimberly A. Kasow, David Buchbinder, Peter Shaw, Peiman Hematti, Raquel Schears, Sherif M. Badawy, Hillard M. Lazarus, Neel Bhatt, Biljana Horn, Saurabh Chhabra, Kristin M. Page, Betty Hamilton, Gerhard C. Hildebrandt, Jean A. Yared, Vaibhav Agrawal, Amer M. Beitinjaneh, Navneet Majhail, Tamila Kindwall-Keller, Richard F. Olsson, Helene Schoemans, Robert Peter Gale, Siddhartha Ganguly, Ibrahim A. Ahmed, Harry C. Schouten, Jane L. Liesveld, Nandita Khera, Amir Steinberg, Ami J. Shah, Melhem Solh, David I. Marks, Witold Rybka, Mahmoud Aljurf, Andrew C. Dietz, Usama Gergis, Biju George, Sachiko Seo, Mary E D Flowers, Minoo Battiwalla, Bipin N. Savani, Marcie L. Riches, John R. Wingard

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

We analyzed late fatal infections (LFIs) in allogeneic stem cell transplantation (HCT) recipients reported to the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research. We analyzed the incidence, infection types, and risk factors contributing to LFI in 10,336 adult and 5088 pediatric subjects surviving for ≥2 years after first HCT without relapse. Among 2245 adult and 377 pediatric patients who died, infections were a primary or contributory cause of death in 687 (31%) and 110 (29%), respectively. At 12 years post-HCT, the cumulative incidence of LFIs was 6.4% (95% confidence interval [CI], 5.8% to 7.0%) in adults, compared with 1.8% …

An Observational Study Of End-Tidal Carbon Dioxide Trends In General Anesthesia, Annemarie Akkermans, Judith A R Van Waes, Aleda Thompson, Amy Shanks, Linda M Peelen, Michael F Aziz, Daniel A Biggs, William C Paganelli, Jonathan P Wanderer, Daniel L Helsten, Sachin Kheterpal, Wilton A Van Klei, Leif Saager

Open Access Publications

PURPOSE: Despite growing evidence supporting the potential benefits of higher end-tidal carbon dioxide (ETCO

METHODS: This retrospective, observational, multicentre study included 317,445 adult patients who received general anesthesia for non-cardiothoracic procedures between January 2008 and September 2016. The primary outcome was a time-weighted average area-under-the-curve (TWA-AUC) for four ETCO

RESULTS: Both TWA-AUC and median ETCO

CONCLUSIONS: Between 2008 and 2016, intraoperative ETCO

Clinical Evaluation Of Exercise Capacity In Adults With Systemic Right Ventricle, Beata Rog, Kinga Salapa, Magdalena Okolska, Natalia Dluzniewska, Piotr Werynski, Piotr Podolec, Lidia Tomkiewicz-Pajak

The Texas Heart Institute Journal

The right ventricle provides systemic circulation in individuals with congenitally corrected transposition of the great arteries (CCTGA) and in those with complete transposition who have had an atrial switch repair (DTGA). The aim of this study was to evaluate how the systemic right ventricle adapts to increased workload and oxygen demand during exercise. From November 2005 through December 2015, 3,358 adult patients with congenital heart disease were treated at our institution; we identified 48 (26 females, 22 males; median age, 25.4 ± 8.1 yr) who met the study criteria; 37 had DTGA and atrial switch repair, and 11 had CCTGA. …

Adgrl3 (Lphn3) Variants Predict Substance Use Disorder, Mauricio Arcos-Burgos, Jorge I. Vélez, Ariel F. Martinez, Marta Ribasés, Josep A. Ramos-Quiroga, Cristina Sánchez-Mora, Vanesa Richarte, Carlos Roncero, Bru Cormand, Noelia Fernández-Castillo, Miguel Casas, Francisco Lopera, David A. Pineda, Juan D. Palacio, Johan E. Acosta-López, Martha L. Cervantes-Henriquez, Manuel G. Sánchez-Rojas, Pedro J. Puentes-Rozo, Brooke S. G. Molina, Mta Cooperative Group, Margaret T. Boden, Deeann Wallis, Brett Lidbury, Saul Newman, Simon Easteal, James Swanson, Hardip Patel, Nora Volkow, Maria T. Acosta, Francisco X. Castellanos, Jose De Leon

Psychiatry Faculty Publications

Genetic factors are strongly implicated in the susceptibility to develop externalizing syndromes such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), oppositional defiant disorder, conduct disorder, and substance use disorder (SUD). Variants in the ADGRL3 (LPHN3) gene predispose to ADHD and predict ADHD severity, disruptive behaviors comorbidity, long-term outcome, and response to treatment. In this study, we investigated whether variants within ADGRL3 are associated with SUD, a disorder that is frequently co-morbid with ADHD. Using family-based, case-control, and longitudinal samples from disparate regions of the world (n = 2698), recruited either for clinical, genetic epidemiological or pharmacogenomic studies of ADHD, we …

Multiancestry Genome-Wide Association Study Of Lipid Levels Incorporating Gene-Alcohol Interactions, Paul S. De Vries, Yun J. Sung, Karen Schwander, Aldi T. Kraja, Mary F. Feitosa, Lisa De Las Fuentes, Renee De Mutsert, C Charles Gu, Yize Li, Treva K. Rice, Lihua Wang, Christine Williams, Mary K. Wojczynski, Michael A. Province, Dabeeru C. Rao, Et Al

Open Access Publications

A person's lipid profile is influenced by genetic variants and alcohol consumption, but the contribution of interactions between these exposures has not been studied. We therefore incorporated gene-alcohol interactions into a multiancestry genome-wide association study of levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and triglycerides. We included 45 studies in stage 1 (genome-wide discovery) and 66 studies in stage 2 (focused follow-up), for a total of 394,584 individuals from 5 ancestry groups. Analyses covered the period July 2014-November 2017. Genetic main effects and interaction effects were jointly assessed by means of a 2-degrees-of-freedom (df) test, and a 1-df test …

Elbow Angle Modulates Corticospinal Excitability To The Resting Biceps Brachii At Both Spinal And Supraspinal Levels, Siobhan C. Dongés, Janet L. Taylor, James L. Nuzzo

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

NEW FINDINGS:

What is the central question of this study?

Corticospinal excitability to biceps brachii is known to modulate according to upper-limb posture. Here, cervicomedullary stimulation was used to investigate potential spinal contributions to elbow angle-dependent changes in corticospinal excitability at rest.

What is the main finding and its importance?

At more extended elbow angles, biceps responses to cervicomedullary stimulation were decreased, whereas cortically evoked responses (normalized to cervicomedullary-evoked responses) were increased. Results suggest decreased spinal excitability but increased cortical excitability as the elbow is placed in a more extended position, an effect that is unlikely to be attributable to …

Assessing The Effect Of Patient To Provider Language Discordance On Depression Screening Utilizing The Patient Health Questionnaire: An Epidemiology Study., Luis A. Murillo, Georgi Alex Grekoff, John C. Sheffield

Reading Hospital Family Medicine Residency

Background: As depression screening becomes a standard in primary care, the question remains of how effective and equitable screening can be implemented to avoid cultural and language-related disparities.

Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, rates of depression screening were compared for 3626 adult patients at a family medicine residency-based health centre in Pennsylvania, USA. The PHQ-2/PHQ-9 modality was verbally administered by nursing staff at the time of patient intake as part of a universal screening initiative. Chi-square analysis was used to determine the univariate associations of performed depression screening with variables of language, ethnicity, gender and number of office visits. …

Developing And Assessing The Feasibility Of A Home-Based Preexposure Prophylaxis Monitoring And Support Program, Aaron J Siegler, Kenneth H Mayer, Albert Y Liu, Rupa R Patel, Lauren M Ahlschlager, Colleen S Kraft, Rossi Fish, Sarah E Wiatrek, Patrick S Sullivan

2010-2019 OA Pubs

We piloted PrEP@Home, a preexposure prophylaxis system of remote laboratory and behavioral monitoring designed to replace routine quarterly follow-up visits with home care to reduce the patient and provider burden. The system was highly acceptable and in-demand for future use, and more than one-third of participants reported greater likelihood of persisting in care if available.

Oscillometry And Pulmonary Magnetic Resonance Imaging In Asthma And Copd, Rachel L Eddy, Andrew Westcott, Geoffrey N Maksym, Grace Parraga, Ronald J Dandurand

Medical Biophysics Publications

Developed over six decades ago, pulmonary oscillometry has re-emerged as a noninvasive and effort-independent method for evaluating respiratory-system impedance in patients with obstructive lung disease. Here, we evaluated the relationships between hyperpolarized

A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial Of Fidaxomicin For Prophylaxis Of Clostridium Difficile-Associated Diarrhea In Adults Undergoing Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation, Kathleen M. Mullane, Erik R. Dubberke, Et Al

Open Access Publications

Background: Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea (CDAD) is common during hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (HSCT) and is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. We evaluated fidaxomicin for prevention of CDAD in HSCT patients.

Methods: In this double-blind study, subjects undergoing HSCT with fluoroquinolone prophylaxis stratified by transplant type (autologous/allogeneic) were randomized to once-daily oral fidaxomicin (200 mg) or a matching placebo. Dosing began within 2 days of starting conditioning or fluoroquinolone prophylaxis and continued until 7 days after neutrophil engraftment or completion of fluoroquinolone prophylaxis/clinically-indicated antimicrobials for up to 40 days. The primary endpoint was CDAD incidence through 30 days after study medication. …

Association Between 5-Year Clinical Outcome In Patients With Nonmedically Evacuated Mild Blast Traumatic Brain Injury And Clinical Measures Collected Within 7 Days Postinjury In Combat, Christine L. Mac Donald, Jason Barber, Jana Patterson, Ann M. Johnson, Sureyya Dikmen, Jesse R. Fann, Nancy Temkin

Open Access Publications

Importance: Although previous work has examined clinical outcomes in combat-deployed veterans, questions remain regarding how symptoms evolve or resolve following mild blast traumatic brain injury (TBI) treated in theater and their association with long-term outcomes.

Objective: To characterize 5-year outcome in patients with nonmedically evacuated blast concussion compared with combat-deployed controls and understand what clinical measures collected acutely in theater are associated with 5-year outcome.

Design, Setting, and Participants: A prospective, longitudinal cohort study including 45 service members with mild blast TBI within 7 days of injury (mean 4 days) and 45 combat deployed nonconcussed controls was carried out. Enrollment …

Linked Mri Signatures Of The Brain's Acute And Persistent Response To Concussion In Female Varsity Rugby Players., Kathryn Y Manning, Alberto Llera, Gregory A Dekaban, Robert Bartha, Christy Barreira, Arthur Brown, Lisa Fischer, Tatiana Jevremovic, Kevin Blackney, Timothy J Doherty, Douglas D Fraser, Jeff Holmes, Christian F Beckmann, Ravi S Menon

Paediatrics Publications

Acute brain changes are expected after concussion, yet there is growing evidence of persistent abnormalities well beyond clinical recovery and clearance to return to play. Multiparametric MRI is a powerful approach to non-invasively study structure-function relationships in the brain, however it remains challenging to interpret the complex and heterogeneous cascade of brain changes that manifest after concussion. Emerging conjunctive, data-driven analysis approaches like linked independent component analysis can integrate structural and functional imaging data to produce linked components that describe the shared inter-subject variance across images. These linked components not only offer the potential of a more comprehensive understanding of …

Reliability, Validity, And Agreement Of The Short-Form Activities-Specific Balance Confidence Scale In People With Lower Extremity Amputations., Katherine Fuller, Humberto Adolfo Omaña Moreno, Courtney Frengopoulos, Michael W Payne, Ricardo Viana, Susan W. Hunter

Physical Therapy Publications

BACKGROUND: Clinicians use the Activities-specific Balance Confidence Scale to understand balance confidence. A short-form Activities-specific Balance Confidence scale, was developed using the six most difficult tasks from the original Activities-specific Balance Confidence scale; however, short-form the short-form scale psychometrics and agreement with the original scale have yet to be explored in people with lower extremity amputations.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the relative and absolute reliability, construct validity, and agreement of the short-form Activities-specific Balance Confidence scale.

STUDY DESIGN: Test-retest with a 2-week interval.

METHODS: Analysis for relative reliability and internal consistency was intraclass correlation coefficient and Cronbach's

RESULTS: The short-form Activities-specific …

Mapping Of Lymphatic Filariasis In Loiasis Areas: A New Strategy Shows No Evidence For Wuchereria Bancrofti Endemicity In Cameroon, Samuel Wanji, Mathias Eyong Esum, Abdel Jelil Njouendou, Amuam Andrew Mbeng, Patrick W Chounna Ndongmo, Raphael Awah Abong, Jerome Fru, Fanny F. Fombad, Gordon Takop Nchanji, Glory Ngongeh, Narcisse V. Ngandjui, Peter Ivo Enyong, Helen Storey, Kurt C. Curtis, Kerstin Fischer, Joseph R. Fauver, Daphne Lew, Charles W. Goss, Peter U. Fischer

Journal Articles: Epidemiology

BACKGROUND: Mapping of lymphatic filariasis (LF) caused by Wuchereria bancrofti largely relies on the detection of circulating antigen using ICT cards. Several studies have recently shown that this test can be cross-reactive with sera of subjects heavily infected with Loa loa and thus mapping results in loiasis endemic areas may be inaccurate.

METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In order to develop an LF mapping strategy for areas with high loiasis prevalence, we collected day blood samples from 5,001 subjects residing in 50 villages that make up 6 health districts throughout Cameroon. Antigen testing using Filarial Test Strip (FTS, a novel platform that uses …

Impact Of Cognitive Distortions And Perceived Stigmatization On Acceptance Among Adults With Neurofibromatosis Type 1, Shanna C. Drinkwine

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) is a genetic condition that is characterized by many physical and cognitive signs and symptoms. Many of the physical manifestations are widespread and visible, which may cause an individual to be a target of stigmatization. An individual’s perception of this stigmatization could lead to emotional distress and a decreased quality of life. To date, there is no research investigating the underlying cognitive factors that drive emotional responses to these negative events in individuals with NF1. More specifically, a literature review reveals no research indicating that cognitive distortions or acceptance have ever been studied in this population. …